Comb bindings are widely used for retaining a plurality sheets of paper together in book form. Such bindings consist of an elongated plastic spine having a plurality of integral fingers projecting from a first edge of the spine. The fingers are flexible and are set so as to curl from said first edge back toward the second edge of the spine with the finger free ends overlapping said second spine edge. Thus, in cross section, the fingers and spine form an essentially closed curve; e.g. circle or oval.
By threading the fingers through aligned apertures formed in a stack of paper sheets (or "leaves"), the sheets can be neatly retained together in book form with the spine running along the rear edge of the sheet stack.
Because comb bindings are inexpensive, are available in a range of sizes, and can be readily installed, either manually or with simple equipment, in a typical office environment they are widely used to provide professional looking reports.
However, one significant factor mitigating against the use of comb bindings is that there has been no quick and inexpensive way to label the spine rear face so that individual reports can be readily distinguished when, for example, placed in a book case. Of course various attempts have been made to avoid this problem by, for example, adhering a label directly to the spine or hanging a label holder over one end of the spine. Unfortunately, these efforts have not yielded satisfactory professional looking bindings. Although efforts to print titles directly onto the spine have been successful, this approach is practical only when a large number of bindings are to be identically labeled and where sufficient lead time is available.
The following patents are exemplary of prior techniques for applying labels to bindings U.S. Pat. Nos.:
1,843,542; Dawson PA1 2,576,783; Dewey PA1 3,335,508; Hummel PA1 3,335,510; Littler PA1 3,544,230; Ohlsson PA1 3,663,041; White PA1 3,807,883; Karlsson PA1 3,814,527; Lawes.